A friend of mine became engaged today and she posted pictures of her fiancé proposing to her on the beach. It looked like such a beautiful moment and it reminded me of the day Aaron asked me to marry him. Ours wasn’t the typical proposal. He didn’t get down on one knee and he didn’t even technically “ask” me to marry him. He simply said, “Let’s get married.” The words just flowed naturally from his mouth.
If I’ve shared this story on my blog before, I apologize for being redundant, but celebrating my friend’s proposal has me feeling particularly romantic today and as I think about it, I really feel like sharing the story of our proposal.
On May 17, 2008 (a day shy of our 7 year anniversary) I put together a romantic dinner for Aaron. I even got dressed to the nines for this dinner at home. I don’t care for seafood myself, but Aaron really does and since I wanted to make him feel like a King that day, I made him king crab legs and a few delicious sides. I had wine and candles, and also set out the brand new outfit I bought for him.
When he came home that day, I showed him his meal and then sent him to the room to shower and get dressed for dinner. He seemed really excited to get to the food as he made his way to the bedroom.
After a moment, I went in to ask how he liked his outfit. Upon entering the room he hugged me and kissed me and then said, “Let’s get married.” I did not take him seriously at all. I laughed a giddy laugh and said, “ok” fully expecting him to laugh it off with me.
Then to my surprise he said, “Do you really want to?” I turned serious and asked, “Do you?” To which he replied, “Well I’d be stupid not to marry a girl who would do all this for me. Wouldn’t I?” Then he kissed me.
I started to cry, and then I said, “Well, if I knew that all I had to do get you to ask me was make you crab legs, I would have done it a long time ago!”
We both had a little laugh and hugged some more. Then I finally said yes.
I remember not being able to eat much (I only served myself sides anyway). I just sat there staring at him and smiling and saying I love you over and over again. I was also so surprised about it that I kept asking him if he was serious. I had no inclination that he was going to ask even though I had been talking about it for a long time. I didn’t even tell anyone about it at work the next day. When he called me at work that afternoon to say hi, he asked if I had told anyone yet and if I knew when I wanted to get married. I told him I hadn’t thought about it and hadn’t even told anyone yet because I was giving him time to let it to sink in and possibly even change his mind if he wanted. I told him I was having a hard time believing it because I had no idea that he had actually been considering asking since he always blew it off whenever I brought up the subject
I remember asking him, “You realize you asked me to MARRY you. Like ACTUALLY get married?” I told him I didn’t think he even wanted to get married and I was worried that I had pressured him into asking me. He assured me he knew what it all meant and that it was what he wanted. He explained that he never wanted to discuss it because he didn’t want to be told when he should do it, but that he was already thinking about it on his own. I cried again and then went back to my office, put on my ring, and told everyone the news!
Even though it wasn’t a typical proposal and the realization of it took a full day to set in, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect proposal. I love knowing that he had been planning to ask me, but hadn’t decided when or how until the moment he asked. Taking that route created this very natural moment between us that is different than any proposal story I’ve ever heard. There was no planning a moment that may or may not turn our as planned. The moment moved him to ask and so he did. It’s what I appreciate the most about our story.
Aaron has always been a steadfast leader in our relationship – always urging me to let life play out the way it’s meant to. To remain faithful and just go with the flow and I appreciate him so much for that. When I am able to let go and just have faith, I leave myself open to receive life’s blessings. Our proposal was the first experience of what can happen if you just leave your mind and heart open to all possibilities.
Now we have two beautiful sons to show for it.
And it all started with those three little words.
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